Choosing Patience When You Have No Choice but to Wait

If you’re like me, you’re not good at being patient. Especially, in the instant gratification culture that we live in, patience is a difficult skill to master. Whether it’s waiting to hear back about that job interview, medical test results or even waiting for the new iPhone to come out, it’s just tough. Here are a few tips for increasing your patience when you have no choice but to wait.

Accept It – Unfortunately, you have no choice. Take a few deep breathes and resolve that patience will be your strength. Acknowledge the moment that you’re in and choose to learn something about the situation and about yourself. There is something to learn in everything.

Ask Your Self Helpful Questions – In moments of frustration we can easily default to asking wrong or unhelpful questions like, “Why is this happening to me?” or “Why can’t things move a little faster?” The problem with these questions is that they don’t offer an answer that can help you in that moment. A better question to ask is, “What can I learn from this situation? or “How can this situation better me?”

Be Productive – If you’re in a moment of waiting, identify something else that you can do in the meantime to be productive in another area. Sometimes, we can get so caught up in our frustration that everything else gets set back. Make the choice not to let that happen to you.